Hunting Tips

I finished the Twisted Hunt yesterday afternoon. It was an absolute blast – fantastically organized, challenging, and entertaining. I found some great new shops, and got to revisit some of my old favorites. But, I was dismayed when, shortly after finishing the hunt, I got a notecard from the organizers. There have been some complaints that the hunt is too hard, even with all the group support. The complaints have been so frustrating to the organizers that they are actually considering making this hunt their last. What a pity that would be. The Twisted Hunt is, in my opinion, one of the best hunts in Second life, and the prizes are absolutely amazing. I don’t want that to happen, so, in the interest of community service, I want to share my hunting system with everyone. This system really works. I guarantee that if you follow these steps, you will not only find your prize, but you will also find the hunting experience to be fun and rewarding.

Step 1: Join the hunter’s group and find the blog. The more information you have to start with, the more fun you’ll have on the hunt. Most of the time, this information is available at the starting point. Look through the group notices to see if there are any shops that you will need to bypass or that have moved or closed. Sometimes, you can also find hints in the notices. The blog will often post hints, or at least the lineup of shops.

Step 2: Cam around the landing spot. On the Twisted Hunt, for example, the prize is, in most places, within 20 meters of the landing spot. Before you go anywhere, cam around. Look up high and down low.

Step 3: Make a plain view sweep of the shop. You wouldn’t believe how well this works. I just start walking around the shop – I almost always start to the right, walk around the perimeter outer walls, then across the middle. There are certain places that shop owners like to place their prizes that can be easily seen this way. Some favorites:

Above the front door on the ceiling.

Behind the front desk

Behind or near the group sign

On couches or tables

In chandeliers

On top of wall dividers

Tucked in corners

Embedded in an item of the same color (i.e., a purple box is embedded in a skirt in an ad for a purple dress)

Step 4: Cam around the shop to look in places hidden from plain view: Many shop owners place their prizes behind signs or in hidden nooks. If you don’t see the prize in plain view, it’s probably hidden. Look under tables, inside lamp shades, between a curtain and the wall, and even in toilets or sinks. If the hunt item is sculpted, here’s a secret trick – sometimes using the wire mesh helps alot! Hit Ctrl + Shift + R and cam around. That will help you see through things easier, but remember, if the item is small, it might not be rezzed if it’s on the other side of the shop. You’ll still need to walk around.

Step 5: Think logically, think like a shop owner: If you owned the shop, where would you hide it? If the store is large, and you’re looking for a gothic item, where is the gothic section? It’s likely that the store owner placed the themed item near that themed section of the store. The store decor can tell you a lot about the owner’s personality. Where does the shop owner want you to go in their store? What do they want you to see?

Step 6: Sit back, take a breath, and just browse the store. If you still haven’t found the prize, don’t get frustrated. Take a break, read the profiles of the other hunters, actually shop in the store, and think about the time, effort, and creativity involved in creating the items the shop owner sells. A lot of time, if you just step back from the hunt and enjoy the place, you’ll find the prize.

Step 7: Befriend other hunters, hunt in a group: If you notice other hunters looking frustrated, help them. If you see the same people in store after store, talk to them. You wouldn’t believe how helpful it is to have others hunting with you. There are even stories of romances starting and deep friendships forming among people who met on hunts.

Step 8: If all else fails, ask for a hint: I keep the group chat open so if I need a hint, I’m not asking for something that someone 5 minutes earlier asked for. Just go back through the chat log and see if the hint is already there. Usually, the hint will lead you right to the item, especially if you’ve already surveyed the store.

Step 9: Skip the store and return later: If you still can’t find the item, just move on to the next store. You can always return later, and a lot of the time, when you do, you’ll smack yourself for having missed the obviously placed prize.

Step 10: No matter what, be a polite hunter: Never complain or be rude in group chat, never harass the shop owner, and always remember that you do not have a right to anything free in SL. If you really do have a legitimate complaint, write it in a politely worded notecard and send it to the hunt organizer who will take care of it. That’s all you need to do. If you don’t like the hunt, or a shop, or someone in the hunt, just move on. If someone asks for help, and you’re available, go for it! The hunt organizers and chat moderators are unbelievably busy, and any help they can get, they’ll appreciate.

I hope this advice helps. Let me know in the comments if you have tips, tricks, or advice for hunters, and HAPPY HUNTING!

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54 responses to “Hunting Tips”

A great article by Isabeal. I’ve stumbled on most of her techniques myself over the course of doing dozens of hunts. These techniques work, but sometimes the store owner is simply not very nice with their hide. They don’t realize that if they seriously frustrate me, I won’t be back as a customer… EVER. Just sayin’. ;-)

Excellent article! These are many of the same techniques that I have used, and they DO work!! I also agree with Xia that some store owners seem to take pride in making it almost impossible to find the hidden prize. Usually the hunt organizers will will take care of this problem in short order. No hunt organizer wants its hunters to be so frustrated that they aren’t having fun. Thanks, Isabeal, for a fantstic article! Happy Hunting!!

Find something you just loooove when you’re opening all those delicious packages?
Sent the designer a message telling them. It will make them feel good about their participation in the hunt. After all, when someone gives you something free, it’s only polite to say thank you!

There is another way,as I think it is cheating and I only use it if I am desperate, area search you can type in the information and it will point the way, it doesnt always work,but after 10 to 15 minutes I get fedup, and I agree with everything said some store owners make it too hard.. and some hunters complain too quick… but if I get too many hard hunts, I will cross the designer off my regular shopping list for being a &^%$.

I discovered these hunts by accident when I first joined SL and have to say that I am really enjoying them. Not being able to find an item wouldn’t stop me from going into their shops again. Some of the things i have received from the vendors have been awesome. I have run across a few vendors that their link doens’t work, but that isn’t the norm as far as I can see. And yes I have sent a few emails as their gift was exceptional!

I’ve always loved the Twisted hunt. But this year was a bit over the top. Most of the stores were so laggy that I could hardly move. I accidentally discovered why when my cam went under the floor of one shop. Some of the store owners had put not dozens but hundreds of fakes complete with scripts under the floors of their shops. Not to mention some of them were far harder than they needed to be. 2 hours to find one prize? Far to hard. After the 5th extremely laggy shop, I quit the hunt and won’t do another one.

I am seeing all these people bashing store owners for making their items hard to find. I find it very perturbing to say the least. They work very hard to create these items, and honestly, its a hunt….not supposed to be sitting there with a blinking sign that says pick me. Think people would have a little more consideration for people who are giving them something for free when they didn’t have to. It really disappoints me that people have become so vain, and selfish that they think its their right to expect handouts to come easy for them.

I have completed many of the Twisted hunts, including the most recent one, except for mazes.

In regards to the Twisted hunt, it’s intended to be hard and a warning is provided. Many stores in the Twisted hunt also participate in more friendly hunts. I believe the excessive use of objects below the floor, in walls, and fake targets are intended to make prim finders useless. If you have the right one some of the noise can be eliminated, but in general it doesn’t help much.

I’m a solo hunter, so for twisted I use ctrl-shift-r wire frame mode, and a hud that provides distance information from the landing point.

Hunters have their own goals, for me they are:
– Explore second life.
– View all the creative talent.
– If I quickly find the gift, explore the store for a few minutes
so the store owner gets ‘points’ for my visit.
– L$0 hunts, as I’m more interested in the journey than the item.

Twisted hunts are well organized, L$0 hunts, and something to do to pass the time. I will say having only 1 hunt of this type in SL works for me. :)

Disclosure:
I’m not associated with the twisted hunt in any way, I don’t know any of the organizers, or any SL vendors.

I am currently doing the Christmas Hunt at Inspiration Point and I am not gonna lie…most of the bunnies I think don’t exist, the hud map shows red dots and thats where the bunnies are and I looked everywhere and can’t find the remaining 12 and theres 1 that for some reason you can’t click…I found a good number of the other ones, but seriously, wheres the other 12???